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Who's Who - Noel de Castelnau

Noel de Castelnau (1851-1944) was,
along with French Commander-in-Chief
Joseph Joffre, and
other notable commanders, such as
Lanrezac and
Mangin, a leading
exponent of the 'offensive spirit' which dominated French war policy until
the dismissal of Robert
Nivelle in May 1917.

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Born in Gascony, Castelnau
entered the French army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Twice serving as Joffre's
Chief of Staff, from 1911-14 and again from 1915-16, Castelnau helped
develop the French pre-war
Plan XVII
war strategy document.

Underpinning Plan XVII was
the assumption that the French Army would recapture the lost territories of
Alsace and Lorraine - essentially at any cost - en route to conquering
Germany; both had been ceded to Germany as a consequence of France's defeat
in the Franco-Prussian War.

Whilst the clear failure of
his Second Army's
invasion at
Lorraine in August 1914 indicated early flaws with French strategy,
Castelnau persisted with the offensive doctrine during the
Battle of
Albert the following month and subsequently while serving as French
Central Army Group Commander through 1915, a position he held until his
second stint as Joffre's Chief of Staff.

Having served at the
defence of
Verdun in 1916, during which he recommended the appointment of
Petain as local
commander whilst opposing his mooted withdrawal from the fortifications, de
Castelnau lost his command once Joffre was replaced by the notoriously
aggressive Robert Nivelle in December 1916.

With the ascendancy of
Ferdinand Foch to
Supreme Allied Commander - who served under de Castelnau at Lorraine - de
Castelnau was recalled to active service in 1918 to command the French
Eastern Army Group, ironically back into Lorraine, scene of his initial
debacle.

Noel de Castelnau died in
1944.

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Saturday, 22 August, 2009Michael Duffy

The Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was the first ever delivered by telegram.